Page 90 of Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones

“Her grandmother,” Rook supplied, and I instantly knew him to be correct. There was only one person Raevyn feared and that was her old Coven Mistress.

“And what of Apollo?”

I’d almost forgotten Casimir was in the room, he’d been so silent and still but when I turned to look at him, I flinched. Something squirmed in my gut, and it felt an awful lot like fear, a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time. A cloak of shadows trailed behind him as he turned to face us, and I saw Deimos in all his godly glory.

Holy Fucking Shit.

I knew the guy was scary but fuck.

His face was all sharp angles, a harsher version of Casimir and his eyes were completely silver. Gone were the familiar red orbs and in their place, were the cold, unfeeling eyes of a God. It had been so long since I’d seen his face and I’d forgotten how jarring he was to look at. You knew you should look away, but you couldn’t because you wanted him to scare you. You wanted to be terrified just to please him.

“Long time no see, Deimos,” Hades drawled. “I thought the cage I’d put you in was keeping you at bay.”

Deimos cocked his head with a jerk. Whoa. Talk about eerie.

“She’s powerful and it calls to me. Strengthens me. My pretty little bird…” He licked his lips. “She doesn’t know how powerful she really is.” Deimos laughed, and it was all wet and raspy, like the sound you make when licking sandpaper. It went right through me, like nails on a chalkboard.

“Nevertheless, you should be buried deep unless my Revenant is playing pliant for you.” Hades stepped closer to Deimos, seemingly unaffected by the terror the God of Fear was pouring out.

Deimos just smiled serenely at the King which was completely and utterly disturbing.

“Right, well, shall we move this little social gathering along,” I said, my tone overly cheerful to hide the fact that I was both a little scared and a whole lot of pissed off. “Any one any ideas where Apollo and Raevyn might go?”

“Other than the abbey near her home, or somewhere in Maleficavae, I can’t think of anywhere she might be,” Rook said, his face a picture of concern.

“I know where Apollo might be,” Hades suggested. “But you aren’t going to like it.”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said fiercely. “I would walk through hellfire to find her.”

“Well, that’s convenient.” The King smiled widely at me. “Since the place Apollo likes to hide is the edge of Tartarus.”

For fuck’s sake. I hadn’t meant it literally, well, I had, but it wouldn’t be something I was rushing to accomplish.

“What about Dolorem?” Deimos asked. “He always had a hiding spot there.”

“So the choice is the pit of Hell or freezing my balls off?” I asked.

“I didn’t realise you were so delicate,” Deimos said, lips twitching.

I pointed my finger in his direction. “Don’t fucking start or I will gut you like a fucking fish.”

“Ooh, colour me terrified,” Deimos said, his tone dripping with boredom.

“Colour me terrified,” I mocked in a condescending tone that made the others laugh. “But seriously, what’s the plan here?”

“We should split up,” Rook suggested.

“No,” Hawk said abruptly. “We don’t know what Apollo’s plan is, what the grandmother is doing or what Raevyn will do. Together we are stronger.”

“Ooh, look at you being a team player,” I said punching the guy in the arm playfully. “How’s that make you feel?”

“Unpleasant,” he replied with a grimace.

“Fine. Then we stay together,” Korbin said, putting on his leadership voice. Then he turned to Deimos. “Is Casimir still there? Or are we dealing with just you?”

I watched in fascination as his eyes shimmered red and the lines of his face softened. Not completely, but enough for us to discern Casimir’s features.

“I am here,” Casimir said. “We both are.”

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